The Cavendish Constant
by DarkyLonewolf
Summary: The craziest of pairings ever - Diana/Constanze, AKA Dianstanze - finally gets a fic. Starts out with the first few chapters following a storyline of sorts on how these two got together until it gets over to loosely connected one-shots. Rated T just for the sake of it. Occasional moments of SuAkko, you know how it is with me.
1. Chapter 1

To say that the first year of studying in Luna Nova was surprisingly hectic for Diana Cavendish would be an incredible understatement – it wasn't so much hectic as it was stuffed with trouble on top of yet more trouble.

From bumping into that Japanese first generation witch that constantly messed things up and having to clean her mess up every single time afterwards, to finding out that the only other legitimate heir to House Cavendish after her mother's passing was selling off the family's possessions for her own selfish goals, to even restoring magic to the world and saving it from what amounted to a hate-powered nuclear bomb… It was surprising that, despite everything, Diana didn't seem to falter the tiniest bit even in the most intense of situations.

Besides, it turns out that Akko, the aforementioned first-generation witch, wasn't really such a problematic person after all. A little immature, sure, but no one's flawless after all.

What Diana didn't expect, however, is finding herself having romantic feelings for the girl. It was… Hard to describe what it was all about. Maybe it was the Japanese girl's surprisingly energetic attitude and sheer determination despite her ineptitude in magic – which, as it turned out, was no fault of her own, but that didn't stop the rest of her problems. Maybe it was something about her looks, like those naturally red eyes and beautiful brown hair always tied up into that odd half-ponytail. Regardless, over the course of summer break following the first year, Diana had plenty of time to think on her situation with Akko…

Only to be in for a nasty surprise when, after going out for a friendly date with both the Red and Green teams, have Akko stop everyone and loudly confess her love to Sucy. While nowadays she couldn't help but laugh at how Akko shouted "_**AISHITERU, SUCY!**_" at the top of her lungs, back then it was no laughing matter.

The girl she had feelings for turned out to be completely disinterested in her after all.

Of course, Diana didn't run off crying or anything like that, but the rest of the way back to the Academy was spent by her in silence, not even saying a word to her roommates as she came back. She didn't cry into her pillow on that night, didn't hate neither Sucy nor Akko for what happened, but the occasional bouts of grief came on regardless. At the very least, Diana managed to tell Akko about her former crush on the girl, getting the weight off her shoulders relatively easily.

After that incident, Diana continued to do what she did best – focused on studying and tried not to pay much attention to matters of the heart. That, however, proved to be surprisingly difficult when her heart got the better of her and she found herself falling for a particular ginger girl whose presence seemed almost invisible in classes. Lotte, was it?

Lotte was basically a stark contrast to Akko in terms of personality. Surprisingly focused on her studies, quiet, patient, even with a slight streak of nerdishness that was more endearing than deterring. However, approaching Lotte was even more difficult than Akko. Whereas Akko was incredibly oblivious to any and all of Diana's attempts at flirting – which the blonde admitted were a bit on the meh side, due to her not having any experience in such matters – Lotte seemed to just shy away from conversations for her own reasons.

And once again, Diana was a tad too late when she mustered the courage to confess her feelings for the girl – then again, she felt like she had no real chances in her endeavors, considering that the most interaction that happened between the blonde and the Finnish girl were some occasional conversations in the library over some fantasy books, and that was about it. This time, it turned out Lotte was already dating Amanda for quite a few days before Diana's attempt at a confession. At the very least, this one wasn't so problematic – all of the girls kept the conversation civil, even Amanda throwing in a surprisingly friendly jab at Diana on how she's actually impressed that Diana saw something in Lotte that only the red-headed Irish-American did and made her have such feelings for the nerdy ginger.

By now, Diana knew that if she were to ever attempt a romantic relationship, she'd probably have to be a bit quicker with her confessions as to avoid awkwardness, but for the time being, she once again focused on her studies. What Diana didn't know is that, surprisingly enough, there was one person that, in turn, was actually interested in Diana herself.

A person that barely said a single word in conversations despite being perfectly capable of speech, and was a prodigy in a type of magic that no one else in the Academy knew how to pull off, excluding a particular teacher who, after a particular incident, was relegated to merely work as Professor Ursula's assistant.

* * *

Honestly, Constanze never cared much for social interactions. Most of the time outside of lessons, one would only ever see her sitting in her secret laboratory built right under Luna Nova, working on another of her inventions or trying to improve upon an old one, with nothing but her own mechanisms for company. When one did attempt to talk it out with her, however, Constanze would respond with nothing but the occasional grunts or nods, not saying a single word unless the situation called for it. For quite a long while, almsot all of the students just presumed her to be mute, but at least one instance of her speaking was well-remembered by them and firmly cemented the fact that she really wasn't mute after all.

As for why she spoke so rarely? Well, there was a multitude of reasons. For example, Constanze's native country being Germany, English was a second language for the navy-haired girl, and while she had a near-perfect grasp on it, writing and reading text just fine…Well, it was the speaking that gave her trouble. She felt like she had an incredibly thick accent, and in fear of others making fun of her for it, preferred to only ever talk in short phrases, wherein it wouldn't be nearly as easy to notice.

Another reason was that, at the end of the day, there wasn't anyone out there she really felt like talking to. She could speak just fine, and if there were a person willing to understand her native language… Well, she still wouldn't talk to them. She just wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing a response.

That being said… She sure wasn't completely asocial. And after a few lucky moments, she even took a liking to a particular co-student.

Said student coming from a rich family, being a prodigy in almost all fields of magic excluding the more niche ones, and probably being smarter than a good half of Luna Nova's teachers.

Even Constanze herself couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she began having feelings for Diana. Maybe it was from her occasional thoughts about the blonde's unusually-colored blonde with green streaks hair, or her pure blue eyes. Maybe it was after finding out through the occasional interactions on duo projects that, at the end of the day, the young lady wasn't such a snob after all, and managed to be nice to others unlike her downright obnoxious roommates.

And the young German girl had to admit that, for some reason, it really hurt her to see Diana try to reluctantly pursue any kind of romantic endeavors, only to miss the mark completely after finding out that her romantic interest is dating someone else.

Constanze couldn't believe that she would ever try to pursue someone's attention, but yet there she was, trying to think of ways to approach Diana and talk it out with her without alienating her in any way, or fumbling her words too badly.

However, that said, Diana seems to have refused completely to notice Constanze, now deciding to go back to focusing on her studies instead of trying to pursue any relationships. That would have concluded the story right there, had it not been for one tiny thing…

One tiny bit of interference courtesy of a certain Japanese witch.

* * *

Honestly, Akko wanted to slap herself for not noticing everything sooner. Turns out those odd gazes she saw Constanze cast in Diana's direction weren't just something she imagined! She totally saw Constanze cast a longing look or two in the blonde's direction, she could swear on her entire Shiny Chariot merchandise collection that she did!

Augh, but it frustrated her to no end to see Diana just act so… Oblivious to Constanze! Even she herself wasn't nearly as oblivious when Diana was dropping hints of liking her in **that** way! But whereas Akko was just a dummy who couldn't see the obvious, Diana, on the other hand, had no excuse, and Constanze herself just couldn't find the mental fortitude or whatever to just go on ahead to Diana and tell her how she feels! Akko had to fix this ASAP!

Which is why she thought of inviting the two on a double date to see if they'll get the hint and hoping maybe, just maybe, that Diana realizes that Constanze has feelings for her. All it would need her is to give them each a note asking them to come over with her and Sucy to that one small café and that would be it!

"I just hope you know what you're doing." – Sucy remarked, leaning over Akko's shoulder as she scribbled down the two notes.

"I'm telling ya, Suce, it's totally going to work!" – The brunette remarked as she just finished scribbling one of the notes and went onto the other. Sighing, the alchemist added: "You know, I'd usually expect Lotte to be the one to play matchmaker, not you. If anything, had it not been for your crush on me, I'd probably think you're not interested in any romantic relationships whatsoever."

"Yeah, but have you seen how Diana was lately? She falls for me – I have a thing for someone else. She falls for Lotte – she's already with Amanda. I'm sure Diana's really upset from all these repeated failures, and I just think she needs a chance with someone who is legitimately interested in her!" – Akko said as she scribbled down a second note hastily, and moments afterward, used a silent spell to fire both of these notes at the people intended to receive them – while in Constanze's case it landed right in front of her on the desk while she was still busy stuffing her textbook back into her bag, Diana wasn't so lucky and got the note stuck right to her face.

While both girls were busy analyzing the contents of the notes, Sucy sighed and remarked: "There are two discrepancies with your trail of thought, Akko. One, the only things that can upset Diana are either family matters or a failed test, and matters of the heart don't matter to her the tiniest bit. Two, you probably got some mixed signals in Constanze's case. She doesn't really strike me as the type to seek anyone's attention, you know."

Akko's only response was a pout, prompting Sucy to groan yet again and add: "Look, I'm not stopping you from going through with your plan, but don't tell me I didn't warn you if things go awry."

"Don't ya worry, it'll all go according to _keikaku_!" – Akko cheerily quipped, making Sucy roll her eyes at her girlfriend's gratuitous language slippage.

"Alright, but first things first, we gotta get back to our dormitory."

"_**After all, we do have to dress appropriately for the occasion at least.**__"_


	2. Chapter 2

Out of all places to choose for a double date, Akko preemptively settled on a particular small restaurant in Blytonbury. The place wasn't overly luxurious, but at the same time, it had a bit of an odd friendly atmosphere to it that made Akko gravitate towards the place in her own way, choosing it quite often as a dating spot for whenever she and Sucy would go out, provided they had the money needed to pay up for what they wanted. Naturally, Akko figured that this would be a good enough place for a double date between Diana and Constanze.

As the group arrived there, Diana was somewhat surprised to see that Akko and Sucy opted to sit at a different table, further away from her and Constanze, but didn't question it all that much. As for Akko, she was hoping that the plan would set itself into motion soon.

Under the pretense of looking through her menu, trying to find any good mushroom-based meals, Sucy whispered: "I'm telling you, Akko, it just doesn't seem to click between them. Right now they're hardly even paying any attention to one another."

"Come on, Suce, I know for certain that it's going to work! We just need to give them a little nudge in the right direction, and everything will go perfectly!" – Honestly, even the brunette's attempts at whispering were a tad too loud for her own good. Luckily, neither Diana nor Constanze seemed to have caught on, currently busy placing their respective orders.

While the duo were busy with their soft drinks, Akko was incredibly disappointed with what she was seeing. They didn't even attempt to strike up any conversations! It took the Asian witch all of her willpower to not groan out in sheer frustration.

"Akko, it's not going to work. Even if you're right and Constanze has feelings for Diana, she is too shy to tell Diana anything outright, and Diana is… Well, we don't even know if she has the same feelings for that quiet girl. " – Sucy deadpanned after taking a quick sip of grape juice, earning a pout from her girlfriend in response.

"Sucy, I know it's going to work out! Just give them some time!" – The brunette responded, although she was unsure whom she was trying to reassure here – Sucy, or herself.

And yet still, the awkward silence between Constanze and Diana persisted regardless - even after their respective orders were brought up, they didn't exchange a single word while eating, sans the occasional request to pass the salt or something.

"Then again, I might as well nudge them in the right direction myself…" – Akko remarked, getting up from her seat, and putting on her usual cheerful smile as she approached Diana and Constanze.

The girls were somewhat startled with the brunette's presence, and even more so when she asked in her usual no-indoors-voice tone: "So, are you two enjoying yourselves so far? Maybe you would like to ease the tension a tad and, I dunno, talk to each other for a bit to break the uncomfortable silence here?"

"Akko, right now, you're creating the opposite of silence. And I can't say it's too comforting." – Diana bluntly remarked, making Akko pout yet again.

"Okay… Do you two know why I brought you two along specifically, and not, say, Lotte and Amanda?" – The Japanese girl continued, trying to keep her smile up regardless. At this moment, she could swear she saw Constanze blush, her expression momentarily shifting to a slightly surprised one.

"A friendly double date, I presume. That being said, I do appreciate your efforts – considering we both had a tad too much free time on our hands, it was nice of you to let us tag along." – The blonde replied, a tiny tone of unease persisting in her voice regardless. Cue the groan from Akko as she shouted out: "Come on now, which one of us is the **dummy** here?! Constanze has a crush on you, and I brought you two along to arrange a surprise date for you two!"

It was at this moment that Akko covered her mouth with both her hands in realization that she let her frustration get the best of her. Not helping matters were the equally shocked reactions of both Diana and Constanze, while Sucy just groaned and facepalmed, grumbling something along the lines of "My girlfriend can be so much trouble sometimes…"

"Akko… I…" – Diana couldn't help but blush as the realization slowly but steadily hit her. – "I do appreciate your efforts, but… I don't think there was any need to play matchmaker, especially in the light of… Some of my past attempts at a romantic relationship, so-"

Before Diana could finish her sentence, Constanze nearly immediately stood up from her seat, casting her usual angry glare at Akko. Although this time, it wasn't her usual grumpy look, but seemingly genuine anger.

"Really? That was it? That's the sole reason you- I can't even… Why would you…" – Constanze stammered out, shocking just about every other girl present in this conversation – mostly because rarely anyone heard her speak more than just a few occasional sentences. One could clearly hear the slight nervousness in her voice, however, as she sure wasn't used to talking so much. Especially considering she had yet more to say still.

"So the sole reason you dragged us along here was just because you got some mixed signals? Because you saw something that made you get the idea that I might actually have a… A crush on Diana? And you just **had** to interfere in some way?!" – Constanze shouted out, her eyes seeming teary by now.

"Constanze, look, I just wanted to help. I thought that-" – Not that Akko got a chance to finish her sentence, as the normally-quiet German girl continued her tirade: "You didn't think** anything **through! Even your attempts to help me out back then with the Wild Hunt project was solely because you, for some dumb reason, felt like intervening! That's what your problem is, Akko! You always stick your face into matters where you have no sense of being in, and mess everything up in the process! The only thing that you accomplished right now is… You just made everything horribly awkward and…" – It was at this point that Constanze didn't feel like talking any further as she looked down and off to the side.

"Constanze…" – Akko tried in a vain attempt to get Constanze to hear her out, but all she got was a loud "**Leave me alone!**" as the girl bolted right out of the restaurant in tears, causing a few surprised "Oh"s courtesy of the other people present within the restaurant at the moment. After a few moments of awkward silence…

"Oh dear… Normally I'd crack a joke at how badly you messed up here, but…" – Sucy looked over at Akko, who was now also looking downright dejected. – "Yeah… That would be too mean even for me."

"I do have to admit, I… Never heard Constanze get so… Talkative." – Diana added, feeling somewhat shocked at the situation herself. – "I… I suppose I'd better take my leave for now. Regardless…" – As much as she wanted to reprimand Akko for what happened just now, the blonde decided against it, instead saying: "Thanks for the effort, I suppose."

After Diana left the restaurant, Akko went back to sit beside Sucy and leaned on the mauve-haired girl's shoulder, sighing dejectedly.

"You messed up, big time." –Sucy's brutal honesty came into play yet again, eliciting another defeated groan from Akko. Sure, she wouldn't bring herself to crack any jokes at Akko's expense in such a situation, but a tiny bit of brutal honesty still slipped on through regardless.

"I know, Suce, I know." – The brunette remarked, not even bothering to snap back at her girlfriend. – "I just don't understand it. I thought it was going to go by smoothly. All that was needed was to give Constanze a nudge in the right direction to confess to Diana and… That would be it."

"Look, Akko, I'm no expert in matters of the heart… But I think I kinda know how Constanze feels in that situation, even if I don't hang around her nearly as much as, say, Amanda or Jasminka do." – The alchemist replied, giving Akko a light pat on the head, figuring that she would need to tone her usual harshness down by a bit. – "After all, she's not the only person I know who was too shy to admit her feelings for another girl."

"But of course. You know a good half of the Academy after all." – The brunette replied, giggling, and prompting a chuckle from Sucy as well. However, even after the brief attempt at alleviating the otherwise serious mood, Akko sighed again and added: "Still, when we get back to Luna Nova, I think I should apologize to Constanze for what happened. I think I really might've made everything way more awkward for her than intended."

"Give her some time to calm down, at least. Trust me, if you won't, she'll just refuse to talk to you completely." – The Filipina girl replied the moment Akko tried to get up from the seat and rush over to the restaurant exit.

"No, I have to fix this ASAP! Catch up to me later, will ya?" – The brunette hastily replied as she rushed right off, not even letting the alchemist stop her. As Akko left, Sucy was just about to grumble that her girlfriend ditched her with everyone's bills, but soon noticed that she preemptively left a fairly sizable amount of cash that covered a good half of the costs, including the ones for her and Sucy's meals, so she preferred not to bring that one up.

**Not that this was on the top of the list of her concerns at the moment anyway.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Suffice to say, several minutes after the "date" was done with, Constanze was quietly lying on her bed in the Green Team dormitory, sighing in exasperation as she stared up at the ceiling, only her own thoughts keeping her company for now. If anything, while Akko's interference didn't outright ruin any chances the navy-haired engineer might've had for a romantic relationship with Diana, it certainly made everything far more difficult than necessary.

As much as she wanted to confess her feelings to Diana eventually, she felt that doing so would have been much better at a later time, when Constanze felt she would be ready for a relationship. But of course, Akko had to go on and intervene, and make everything infinitely more awkward than needed!

A couple quiet knocks on the door snapped Constanze out of her thoughts, although since she didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment, the most the German girl could manage was a quiet dejected "Go away." as she kept lying on her bed, staring off into space as she couldn't even bother to get up.

"Constanze? Are you here? We need to talk!" - The realization of whom the voice belonged to made the navy-haired girl let out a quiet gasp as she realized just who was knocking.

Did Diana really want to talk to her about the incident that just ensued?

That couldn't be right. The date was a complete disaster, and she probably wouldn't want to talk to her after everything Akko did, and-

Her suspicions, however, were confirmed yet further as Diana gently opened the door and peeked in. Constanze almost immediately blushed and looked off to the side, not even feeling like looking the British girl in the eyes at the moment.

"Constanze… We need to talk about what happened today." - The blonde said with clear concern in her voice as she approached the other girl, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"First of all, I want to apologize on Akko's behalf. She just wanted to help us out, but it seems that she inadvertently… Caused some unnecessary complications." - As Diana said that, Constanze's only reply was an angry "Hmph." as she continued looking away.

"Akko certainly meant well, even if the execution of her plan was less than stellar. So please, at least don't be mad at her." - Honestly, while hearing anyone else try to stand up for Akko after she royally screwed up would tire Constanze out to no end, somehow, Diana was an exception to that rule. It also helped that her voice was surprisingly pleasant to listen to, making Constanze feel…Safe, somehow.

Feeling that this conversation was getting too one-sided, Constanze sighed and remarked: "It's okay. The whole Academy's used to her antics by now."

After Constanze said that, an odd silence persisted within the room for several more seconds, although the German girl couldn't help but notice a slight blush on Diana's face. It seemed that apologizing to Constanze wasn't the only thing that Diana came for.

"By the way…What Akko said about your crush on me…Is it really true?" - That question made Constanze freeze on the spot, her face ending up practically beet-red. This was the moment that she was reduced back to her usual form of communication, uttering nothing but her usual grunting in an attempt to get some sort of response out. After a few moments, however, she breathed out and nodded in affirmative.

"To be honest, I don't really mind that. Because… **You are actually quite cute yourself.**"

This was the moment that Constanze uttered nothing but a quiet, prolonged squeak. After taking some time to catch her breath and calm down, the navy-haired girl could only utter a single word's worth of a question: "Really?"

A laconic question was deserving of an equally laconic answer. In Diana's case, it was a quiet nod coupled with a kind smile.

"Of course, if you're not yet ready for a relationship, I understand completely. I myself had the same difficulties of mentally preparing for a romantic relationship, so I guess I'll be willing to wait for as long as you need to." - As Diana said that, however, Constanze immediately hugged and nudged her, shaking her head and grunting in disagreement.

"Oh… You mean you don't want me to wait? I honestly don't know how to react to this…" - Diana remarked, equal parts flustered and confused.

"I… I am ready if you are." - Constanze replied as she looked up to face Diana. Realizing how she worded that, she immediately stammered: "F-for a relationship, I mean! I mean, it's not that-"

**She was almost immediately shut up by the feeling of Diana's lips on her own.**

* * *

As Akko made her way back to the Academy, she almost immediately headed over to the Green Team dormitory room, as she felt that she had to apologize to Constanze for what happened. The Asian girl was technically at fault for the date going awry, and it was basically her main responsibility at the moment, so she certainly felt that she had to fix it. As for Sucy, she had to practically tail her girlfriend as to make sure she doesn't make anything even worse. After all, the earlier events just proved that even if Akko means well, she can screw things up too much for it to matter regardless, even if she didn't mean to.

As estimated, the duo ended up bumping into Amanda and Jasminka on the way through. That is, Akko literally bumped into Amanda, and Jasminka barely managed to catch the redhead at the right moment. Akko, in turn, had landed right in Sucy's arms.

"Oh, there you two are!" - Akko remarked as Sucy helped her up. – "Is Constanze still in the dormitory room? I need to talk something out with her."

"She is alright, but I would leave her alone for the time bein' if I were you. Trust me, Cons **really** needs some alone time for now." - Amanda replied, with Jasminka nodding in confirmation.

"Told you so." - Sucy quipped, but that didn't do much – if anything, Akko wriggled herself right out from the other girl's grasp and rushed right past Amanda and Jasminka, prompting a "Hey!" from the former.

"Of course she doesn't listen..." - Sucy groaned out as she followed her girlfriend.

As for Akko, she was quite quick to approach the Green Team dormitory room, and, once near the door, took some time to calm down. If she needed to make sure that Constanze hears her out, she first needed to not alienate her even further. As she took a few more deep breaths, she gently opened the door…

And what she saw was definitely not what she expected. Constanze was lying on her bed, with Diana just next to her, and they were full-on making out. It was just an innocent first-base makeout, sure, but it certainly left Akko a bit surprised, to say the least. Especially startling was seeing Constanze being the more assertive of the two, practically sitting on Diana's lap and having both her hands on the taller girl's face as she kissed her. Luckily for Akko, neither girl seemed to notice her, so she just slowly backed away and closed the door, uttering a quiet "Sorry" as she did so.

As the rest of the group caught up to her, they immediately noticed that typical "defensive smile" expression on Akko's face.

"I forgot to mention that Diana went over to talk it out with her as well." - Amanda remarked as soon as she saw the look on Akko's face.

"More like she ran off too quickly for you to explain anything to her." - Sucy snarked out. – "She tends to get impulsive like that."

While Akko's expression shifted to an annoyed pout, Jasminka decided to alleviate the tension a bit and changed the subject back: "So, how's Constanze feeling so far?"

"Let's just say Diana resolved everything on her own and leave it at that." - The brunette responded as she dragged Sucy back to the Red Team dormitory. Once the other girls were out of earshot, Sucy couldn't help but remark in a matter-of-fact tone: "Let me guess – they were making out."

Akko's only response was a nod, with Sucy quipping "Knew it." as they went back to their dormitory room.

**At the very least, Akko was glad that everything resolved itself on it's own. **


	4. Chapter 4

As Constanze peered into the Blue Team dormitory, she cast a few curious glances around what she saw of the room. So far, while it did seem like a fairly ordinary dormitory, the decorations did clash quite a bit with the rest of it, looking a tad more… Luxurious? Sure, the beds stayed largely the same, but the usual double bunk bed was replaced by a double one, of all things. Didn't take Constanze long to figure out who this one belonged to. Then there was also a comfy-looking sofa, positioned right in the center of the room, and a small coffee table just near it… Those were definitely not part of the usual décor.

"I see that you've arrived right on time. Now, don't be shy, come on in. " – Diana remarked, currently sitting at the aforementioned couch and gesturing the other girl to come on in. Constanze closed the door behind herself and nervously shuffled over to where her girlfriend was sitting, sitting down just next to her.

"So, would you fancy a cup of tea?" – Diana asked, lifting a teapot that was usually situated on the coffee table up with the same done-several-times silent spell. Constanze quietly nodded and sat there quietly, scanning through the room for a bit longer. Eeyup, the décor was nothing like the Green Team or Red Team dormitory. The place gave off an odd air of luxury, making the navy-haired girl wonder if Diana had to make her fair share of rearrangements upon ending up in this dormitory with Hannah and Barbara.

"How much sugar?" – The blonde asked, interrupting Constanze's little furniture design analysis. The only response the quiet girl managed was just to sign her to not add any sugar and adding "No milk either."

After handing Constanze her cup, Diana asked: "So, how was it going so far?"

Honestly, the German girl was yet to get used to any conversations that required more than just the occasional "yes" or "no" responses from her. And of course, having Diana break the ice so suddenly was not something she was used to. This was, admittedly, one of the few times they were left one on one, aside from the date they were set up on back then.

So her response was a mere "Decent, I guess" before she went back to quietly sipping her rather plain tea. She wasn't really one for sweet tea, or even the idea of adding any milk to it. Heck, she was much more of a coffee person, but declining Diana's offer just seemed rude to Constanze. That… Didn't leave her enjoying the tea all that much, to be honest.

"I'm surprised you've been handling yourself so well in certain topics. Numerology, so far, seems to be practically coming to you naturally. And it's rather ironic that someone who barely says a single word manages to have near-top grades in Magical Linguistics." – Diana decided not to specify the reason why Constanze's grades were "near-top", as she felt that this would probably make the atmosphere a tad more awkward than needed. – "And what about your latest endeavors in techmaturgy? I didn't get to visit your workshop or see you at work often, so…"

Constanze didn't answer, instead pressing a few buttons on her wand-remote. Soon enough, noises of small metallic feet clanging were heard in the corridor before the all-too-familiar Stanbot stumbled right in, rearranging itself into proper position instead of simply getting up.

"I see. So you've been working on upgrading your Stanbot so far?"

Constanze nodded, and pressed a few more buttons, soon making a Stanbot procure something from behind itself.

At first it was just a ball of odd green light, but it soon began… Taking on a shape of sorts. Soon enough, the former ball of light became a green rose with light blue petals, although it seemed more like a polygonal model of a rose rather than a real one.

The result, apparently, was not what Constanze wanted to achieve, so her neutral expression was back to her grumpy one quite soon.

"Not enough processing power yet." – The German girl quipped as the Stanbot went on to hand Diana the aforementioned rose. It wasn't any kind of illusion, either, but it did feel strangely… Ethereal on touch. Like Diana's hands were touching thin air as she held the rose.

"Regardless, I am more than thoroughly impressed. You made your Stanbot capable of conjuring objects. I presume that it uses your silent spells as commands, and performs them by virtue of it's own internal energy reserves, correct?" – Diana placed the rose down onto the table and turned to face Constanze, who quietly nodded, feeling somewhat amazed at the fact that her girlfriend nailed the entirety of it down. Given that the blonde took quite a bit of interest in techmaturgy after she and Constanze got together, it was only fair.

"The object fabrication only works in preset templates, sadly." – Stanbot quipped.

"And it doesn't last." – The little robot's creator added, and as if in confirmation of her words, the fabricated rose dissolved into sparkles. Looking at the few particles that were left behind by the rose, Constanze sighed.

"Still, you did a really good job on this. In fact, I am more than looking forward to your further techmaturgical advancements." – Diana remarked, giving Constanze a light pat on the head. – "Speaking of which, I don't care what most witches might say about your affinity towards this specific school of magic. Despite the incident with Croix, I am fully inclined to believe that techmaturgy does have a place in the modern world of magic as a perfectly valid science."

The navy-haired technician looked up at Diana and smiled back at her as she heard that, being met with a quiet loving smile in return.

"Anyway… What about you?" – Constanze spoke up, seemingly taking the few careful steps towards breaking out of her figurative shell.

"Oh. Well, I can safely say that… Things have gotten a little complicated since last year. The studying I can keep up with, but staying in touch with my other acquaintances is rather… Difficult." – Looking around for a bit, the blonde sighed and added: "Even my roommates are rather distant from me lately. On the off time from studying, they spend more time on dates together with just one another rather than being anywhere near me, and even after those, we don't even get to talk much."

Perhaps that explained the absence of the odd duo from the Blue Team dormitory.

"I don't get to talk much to Akko either, because she's either busy practicing magic – her determination is commendable, I must admit – or spending her time with Sucy. And Sucy… Well, she doesn't want me anywhere near neither her nor Akko. She tends to get a little possessive is all I can say on the matter." – Diana continued, all the while holding her long cooled-down cup of tea.

Constanze figured that this was probably what gave Akko the idea to try and pair them up in the first place. Akko may have not been the brightest person in the Academy, but even she could see Diana's rather evident forlornness while her acquaintances were busy hanging out with each other and acted like she wasn't even around. Diana was by no means an extroverted person, sure, but she certainly wasn't as used to being all by her lonesome as, say, Sucy was. Meanwhile, even though Constanze was all too used to spending most of her time all alone with her mechas, at the same time she couldn't help but admire and respect Diana in a more than just platonic way. The mechanic often felt like Diana was probably the single most open-minded person amongst her fellow students, and that the blonde, unlike anyone other than Constanze's close acquaintances, was rather acceptant of the very concept of techmaturgy and didn't ridicule her hobbies as being something not "witch-like", or invalidate the very school of magic she studied.

Constanze lightly placed her hand on Diana's, which she had currently positioned on the couch, somewhat startling the blonde.

"Oh… Well… I suppose having you by my side is quite nice." – Diana remarked, presuming that this was the reply that Constanze expected. The German girl quietly nodded and leaned closer to Diana, soon getting close enough to the blonde to rub her cheek against her shoulder.

Figuring she might as well return the gesture of affection, the sole heiress pulled the other girl into a hug and looked her in the eyes.

"You know… As much as I admire your personality and enthusiasm in techmaturgy… I have to admit that your looks played no small part in my feelings of affection towards you." – To emphasize her point, Diana leaned just close enough to be mere inches away from a kiss, and quietly remarked: "I really meant it when I called you cute back then."

Before Constanze could even utter anything, she was immediately silenced by a gentle kiss on the lips from the British girl, and allowed herself to just relax and let her do all the work…

Right in time for Diana's roommates to arrive, apparently in the middle of a conversation.

"… and I'm telling you, that series was a failure on every level! Even the ending was just a complete mind-screw with zero explanation, except without any of the genius and subtlety of it's predecessor!" – Hannah remarked, as it seemed that she and Barbara had gotten into a discussion regarding certain anime series. – "Honestly, that's not even getting into how this particular title is basically a sappy romance disguised as a mecha anime, so- Oh." – It didn't take long for the redhead to notice just what was going on in the room.

" "**Oh**" indeed, Hannah-bee. "Oh" indeed." – Barbara chimed in, seemingly not as surprised by the presence of Constanze within the room.

As for the other couple in the room? Both beet-red in the face, wide-eyed, and staring awkwardly at the two intruders.

"You know, it is nearing curfew already…" – Constanze remarked, blushing like no tomorrow as she ran out of the room, packing her Stanbot back up and running off with it. Honestly, she could have just dismissed the little guy after things got a tad emotional between her and Diana, but she seemingly forgot to do so, and now she had to carry the folded-up robot all the way back to her dormitory room.

As for Diana, she stood up from the couch, cleared her throat, and asked: "I take it you two were having a discussion prior to… All of this, am I correct?"

The duo exchanged a few odd glances and soon just went back over to their usual position at their shared bed, continuing their discussion on how mecha anime these days is just too out there compared to what it was like before, while Diana just sighed and figured she might as well head for the showers early.

**Although, she still couldn't help but think that maybe she at least needed to ask Constanze out when she gets the chance. **


	5. Chapter 5

Constanze groaned out in frustration. Try as she might, the german girl couldn't get any advancements in her current endeavors. She just sat there over her latest project, and it seemed like it wasn't going to move past the concept and design phase, either.

With all the techmaturgical inventions Constanze's done so far, she was half a mind of adapting them for use as household appliances, but the one problem that she stumbled upon is that having her mechanisms draw directly from the user's inner magical reserves would do quite the opposite of what household tech is intended to do, ending up only incoveniencing users further instead. The easier part was gotten down, sure, but she could speak from experience that even a witch with average magic potential would get tired from prolonged usage of the mechanisms, let alone a human with not enough potential magical energy to cast spells on their own.

Naturally, her current concept was something of a magical battery – a mechanism intended to be charged with magical energy by connecting to a leyline, and then used to provide power to nearby techmaturgical mechanisms – which meant both small things, like Constanze's Stanbots, or larger mechanisms, like the Alch-Tech – one of her earlier projects, primarily used for easy creation of potions as the name suggested.

However, try as she might, Constanze just couldn't find an object that could be appropriately reconfigured into a magical energy battery. Experimenting on any actual batteries already seemed like a big no-no in the matter, as considering what is used in those, it would only serve to intoxicate the air in Constanze's workshop, and considering the limited ventilation, that's the last thing she needed.

So there she was, lying in a hefty pile of paper, each piece with rudimentary blueprint-like scribbles.

When you're left working with what amounts to scrap metal left over from various appliances, you are rather limited in your options. And trying to find a way to build something stable out of those limited materials that is at least close to your original intent is… Difficult, to say the least.

As Constanze looked upon another of those scribbles and groaned out yet again, she could barely hear the all-too-familiar sound of the elevator leading from the Green Team dormitory to her workshop going down.

Great, now her roommates are going to be worrying themselves sick about her. She would honestly much appreciate if they actually helped her with her work instead of trying to convince her to leave it be. They meant well, sure, and she appreciated the efforts, but at the same time they were just so… Ineffective.

Interestingly enough, the visitor was neither Amanda nor Jasminka, and not even the ever-so-curious Akko. The voice Constanze heard was simply impossible to confuse with any other.

"Constanze, are you okay? Your roommates told me you've had a bit of a rough day working. " – Diana asked as she approached Constanze, earning a quiet defeated nod from the German girl.

"Cons, I admire your efforts in techmaturgy, but don't you think that, at least on a Saturday, you've ought to relax for a couple moments? I know that techmaturgy is your passion, but it looks less like you're enjoying your hobby and more like you're throwing yourself at your materials in hope of finding some inspiration."

The other girl sighed and demonstrated some of the papers, showing just what her project was.

After Diana did a quick once-over of one of the blueprints, she sighed and replied: "Constanze, this does seem like a particularly ambitious project, even for you. I don't think you should be trying to pull it all off in a single go, as you do seem incredibly exhausted and burnt out. I think that you need to take a break for now."

Exhaling for the umpteenth time by now, Constanze got up and attempted to at least stack all the papers from the pile into something relatively sensible.

"For now, I suggest that you go get some rest."

* * *

Later on, back in the Green Team dormitory, the duo was quietly lying on Constanze's bed, with Constanze lying on top of Diana, seemingly slowly but steadily falling asleep. Her navy-haired head was positioned right on her taller girlfriend's chest, and with how slow Diana was breathing, seemingly falling asleep as well, the slow, rhythmic movements seemed to be…Strangely soothing for Constanze.

Up…

Down…

Up…

Down…

Up…

The slow swaying was practically lulling Constanze into sleep, so It wasn't long before she practically fell asleep on Diana's chest, while the blonde herself just tried not to doze off herself.

What was the time again, 3 PM or something? Yeah, maybe a midday nap really was necessary for them both.

Sure, Diana didn't spend much time working on that particular day, having taken care of her work the day prior as usual, but at the same time, having to wake Constanze up from her nap just felt… Wrong somehow. The way that the petite german girl slept on her chest was just way too soothing.

Thus, the most Diana uttered was a resigned sigh before she also let herself fall asleep as well.

* * *

"Heya, Princess."

Ugh. Of all voices to break Diana out of her nap, did it really have to be Amanda? Sure, she did end up falling asleep in the Green Team's dormitory, but was it truly necessary for Amanda of all people to get her up?!

"Cons, you sure you didn't crush her or something? I mean, you barely weigh a damn, but-" – A light grunt interrupted the redhead, coupled with a slap echoing throughout the room.

That's right, Cons, you tell her.

"Anyway, time to get up already. Your roomies 'been asking questions about where the heck did ya go off to, because normally they bump right into you after they come back from a date."

As Diana opened her eyes, she soon noticed that Constanze was standing just nearby, while Amanda…

"Too close for comfort, O'Neill." – Diana remarked in her usual formal, if somewhat half-asleep tone.

"Alright already, get up, ya Sleeping Beauty. Constanze's been waiting for a long while to show ya something."

Diana couldn't help but wonder if she really napped for longer than Constanze did. As she sat upright, she soon noticed some odd contraption that Constanze was holding.

"She kinda had to smuggle a disused wand from the storage to build this little bugger, but it does seem like a decent prototype. What do you think? "

As much as Diana wanted to read off a long lecture on how stealing school property for any sort of side projects was a big no-no and quite rule-breaking, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. One, Constanze's already broken so many rules that this one seemed like nothing. Two…

She was rather glad that her girlfriend managed to get her project done so surprisingly quickly. Perhaps getting some rest really was what Constanze needed.

Looking over the battery that looked more like a bug zapper than anything, she still couldn't help but admire the handiwork put into it. It seemed to have that same distinct construction style that most of Constanze's tech used – from her Stanbots to her Alch-Tech.

"You did a great job on this one, Constanze. I guess getting some rest really did help you out quite a bit. The handiwork on this one is truly admirable, and I am looking forward to you completing this project.." – The blonde remarked as she looked over the contraption for a few more moments.

This actually prompted Constanze to smile at Diana, as she was quite glad that her girlfriend also appreciated her work. A headpat from the blonde reassured her yet further on the matter.

"Alright, guess I'll just leave you two be. Don't wanna be a moment killer now, do I?" – Amanda remarked as she backed away for a bit and grinned.

"No need for that. I was about to head back to my dormitory regardless." – With that said, Diana leaned down to give Constanze a quick kiss on the cheek, and soon left for the Blue Team dormitory.

On the way back, Diana thought that maybe she should get more directly involved in Constanze's hobbies and work.

**After all, that would certainly allow the blonde to spend more time with her. **


	6. Chapter 6

There were two words in particular that Diana always feared in regard to her family.

**Family dinner. **

Having to spend any more time with her stuck-up cousins and equally stuck-up aunt was already torture enough, given the nigh-constant chit-chat regarding some of their exploits, which was downright oozing prejudice against the lower- or even most middle-class citizens, but after a few failed romances Diana had within the walls of Luna Nova, it seemed as if her cousins were now hell-bent on constantly making homophobic remark after homophobic remark.

And what of now?

Well, with all brutal honesty, Diana **really** didn't want to bring Constanze along for this particular meeting, if only because she felt that dragging anyone else into her troubles was the last thing she needed, **especially **her girlfriend. Alas, the little German girl insisted on tagging along with Diana, her reasoning being that at least Diana won't have to tough it out all by herself.

Not… That this made things any easier…

* * *

"Those gold diggers are just as overprominent as always, Maril. When will they learn that one has to work for their social status and riches, not try to worm their way into some rich, influential family?" – Merrill remarked as she took a light sip of wine.

"I can relate on that front, Merrill. I suppose that might be the main reason why a commoner would try to get into an influential family not unlike ours." – As the other blonde spoke, Diana couldn't help but notice both Merrill and Maril glaring at Constanze strangely. Sure, the German girl didn't notice a damn thing, but to Diana, the intent behind her cousins' words was obvious.

To top it all off, Daryl wouldn't do a damn thing about her daughters' behavior! There she was, just quietly enjoying her meal and not saying a damn word, while Merrill and Maril just continued on with their prejudiced chatter.

"You know what's worse than having a commoner spouse, by the way? Having a disabled spouse, of course!" – That one set Diana even further on edge.

Was she really talking about-

"Most certainly, Merrill. Even minor things, like speech impediments, must be a real pain in the behind to deal with. Especially if you're having to live the rest of your life with said speech-impeded person, trying your bloody best to understand just what they tried to tell you at that moment or another. "

Just keep calm… Don't say a word… Constanze keeps quiet, you should too…

"Merrill, Maril, I think this too heavy of a topic to discuss during a family dinner." – Finally, Daryl made **some** effort to calm her daughters down… Only to throw more fuel to the fire: "Perhaps you might want to keep your discussions a smidgen more grounded?"

"Well, we can always talk it out about what happened to the world of magic recently." – Diana suggested, trying to at least slightly break the tension. Of course, Maril just had to twist things her way: "More specifically, about how some people began twisting pure magic into such absurd forms as **techmaturgy**."

Honestly, if she had the strength, Diana thought, she'd probably have her fork snap in two in her hands after hearing this.

That shrew just had to hit right where it counts?!

"Ah, yes, the single most invalid subtype of magic, if you can even call it magic, that is." – Merrill remarked condescendingly. – "Such a waste of perfectly good magical energy **and** mundane resources, must I say. Infusing a mundane tin can wouldn't make it in any way better – at the end of the day, it's still going to be a tin can that drains your magic reserves into nothing as an added bonus. Not to mention, it's not like anyone is ever going to validate techmaturgy as a science."

"**Miss Meridies **attempted to, and we all know the end result – the whole damn England nearly got destroyed by a magical nuke. So I'd add to it the fact that techmaturgy is not just borderline pointless, but might only bring nothing more but trouble into the world as a whole. Hell, I can hardly call anyone pursuing techmaturgy as their specialty a proper **witch** or mage, so-"

"**Enough!**" – Diana slammed both her hands against the table as she stood up from her seat, startling everyone. – "Daryl, I've lost count of how many semiannual family dinners ended up with me walking away from the table extremely embarrassed due to your daughters' behavior, but this is a new low. Humiliating my girlfriend like this is already bad enough, but you not doing anything to stop such behavior is something else entirely."

Constanze stared wide-eyed at Diana, still not believing the blonde's words as she continued speaking:

"First and foremost, Constanze didn't attempt to "worm her way" into the family, so to speak. We have a genuine relationship, that, even in spite of it being fairly recent, has no ulterior motives behind it. Besides, the Amalie von Braunschbank-Albrechtsberger family is far from a poor one, that I can say for certain, but I doubt they would force Constanze upon me just to have our families connect one way or another."

That one wasn't actually a lie – Constanze was by no means a first-generation witch, and her family, while it didn't own any large businesses in Germany or anything like that, was still a known and respected one, at least in the witch community.

"Second, Constanze is by no means "speech-impeded", as she merely had quite a bit of trouble learning to speak in English." – Diana crossed her arms and looked over at Maril, who was now staring at Diana in complete and utter bafflement as well, before remarking: "I'd like to see you try to speak in fluent German just a couple months after arriving into Berlin or anything like that, Maril. I'm fairly certain it would be an amusing sight."

"Diana, would you refrain from-"

"And last but not least, just up and telling a person that their life's passion is meaningless and brings nothing but harm to everyone is horribly, horribly insensitive. I see that, for all your etiquette you've been learning, cousins, you really failed to learn any sort of compassion towards others. Oh, wait, I know just the reason." – The blonde briefly turned to face Constanze and asked out loud: "What was the saying in your country again, Constanze? "_**Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm**_", was it?" – and then faced Daryl again. – "I can clearly say just whom they inherited this sheer insensitivity from, aunt Daryl. I guess there is little wonder why the Cavendish family's fall from grace was inevitable – with the likes of you in it, I wouldn't dare call our family anything other than a **wretched hive! **"

There were quite a few moments of stunned silence. No one really knew what to say, and Diana didn't feel like adding anything further to her speech, so she went over to Constanze, grabbed her by her hand, and grumbled off a "We shall take our leave now." before departing from the dining hall.

* * *

"You… Really stood up for me."

Not too long after the event, Diana and Constanze were already flying a broom back to the nearest leyline terminal, as they now intended to head back over to Luna Nova and forget that this family dinner ever happened.

"Of course I did, Constanze." – Diana replied, sounding far less tense than usual. – "You know full well I wouldn't let anyone bully any of my close acquaintances, let alone my girlfriend. Sorry that I had to drag you into this mess, though."

"It's okay. My parents had corporative dinners with worse families." – The navy-haired girl remarked, looking off to the side. – "By the way, when winter break comes around, maybe we can try to get permission to fly over to my _**Vaterland**_ for the holidays? I assure you, my parents are far more pleasant than your aunt and cousins." – After a few moments of quiet, she added: "No offense."

"_**Mein kleines Kätzchen**_, I know full well my surviving folks are a bunch of stuck-up wretches, I stopped taking offense to these statements ages ago." - Stopping the broom mid-air for a couple moments, Diana turned her head just enough to give her girlfriend a kiss on the forehead, and added: "That being said, I do accept the offer, and I'm looking forward to it."

**And there it was again, that one heart-melting smile from Constanze.**


End file.
